Deep frying and similar cooking techniques can provide fried food product, such as French fried potatoes, hash brown potatoes, fried chicken nuggets and the like, upon completion of cooking that have desired characteristics of crispness of their exterior and warmth and moistness of their interior. It is generally recognized that crispness of fried foods is adversely affected in a relatively short time after they are cooked due to moisture migrating from the interior of the product to its exterior surface. As a result, the exterior surface becomes moist. The crispness deteriorates to a soggy and/or greasy condition that can result in a taste of the frying medium. This seriously degrades the sensory appeal of the fried food product. The holding time is the time a fried food product can be held after completion of cooking until its crispness, warmth, and interior moisture have deteriorated to the point that it is unsuitable for serving to a customer.
One prior art technique of maintaining the desired characteristics of freshly prepared fried foods is to place them in a heated cabinet having doors or drawers. This technique has a disadvantage that the fried food is not easily accessible. Another prior art technique places the fried food product in a holder and applies radiant heat to them. Both of these techniques have been popular as they tend to keep the fried food product warm. However, the crispness deteriorates after a short time due to moisture migration from the product interior to its surface. For commercial versions of these products, the holding time is limited to ten minutes or less before the fried food loses its sensory appeal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,818 provides an alternative technique of maintaining surface crispness and interior moisture of fried food product. This patent uses a recirculating hot air system that blows hot air from below the fried food and/or from the sides thereof to both warm the fried food and to evaporate surface moisture. The hot air is returned via a vent that is positioned to one side of the fried food. A problem with this technique is that water vapor forms in the region above the fried food that is out of the air recirculation path. The water vapor condenses and returns moisture to the topmost layer of the fried food. This limits the time that the fried food can maintain its crispness.
In the fast food industry, it is desirable to enhance the holding time that fried food maintains warmth, surface crispness and interior moisture to as long as possible.
The present invention has a main object of maintaining a crisp surface and a warm moist interior of fried food for as long as possible.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that effectively removes moisture as well as water vapor from the vicinity of the fried food.
Still another object is to provide an apparatus that provides a significant increase in fried food holding time over currently available equipment.
Yet another object is to provide a method for warming freshly prepared fried food and removing moisture and water vapor from the vicinity of the fried food.